The Professor Comes Back
The Professor Comes Back is a short story which was first published in The Modern Boy issue 290, 26th August 1933 under the title The Wing-Riders!. The story was subsequently collected as the sixth short story of the third Biggles book Biggles of the Camel Squadron, published in March 1934. Synopsis 266 Sqn gets news that Henry Watkins or "The Professor" is alive and a prisoner of war. Biggles remembers how Henry had told him about a field near a forest which he would make for should he escape from prison camp. 266 Sqn patrols the area and against all odds, Biggles spots a smoke-fire. The professor has escaped and is ready to be picked up! Plot (may contain spoilers - click on expand to read) Characters *Biggles *Algy Lacey *Colonel Raymond *Wat Tyler *Major Mullen *Harcourt *Captain Mahoney *Captain MacLaren *Smyth - is not actually named in this story but when Biggles, Algy and Harcourt are trying to save the "C" flight aircraft from the burning hangar, they are assisted by "the Flight Sergeant", the article "the" suggesting there is only one for the squadron or flight and he could well have been Smyth. Aircraft *Sopwith Camel *Fokker Dr.I *Friedrichshafen bomber - probably a G.III or G.IIIa model *S.E.5 Places Visited *266 Squadron, Maranique *Langaarte Forest Mentioned Editorial Changes Other Research Notes References to the past Biggles says, "He can ride on my wing comfortably enough; I've carried a passenger that way before". Actually it wasn't very long ago. He carried a spy back from behind enemy lines in The Carrier which is set in February 1918. This story is also set around February or March 1918. Incongruities Chronology (see also table at Timeline of the Biggles Stories) *May 1918. *It is a matter of taking as a reference point the events in The Thought Reader. This is set in summer, probably around June 1918. In that story, 266 Sqn is still understrength and smarting from the Friedrichshafen raid in The Professor Comes Back, so the attack which destroyed two-thirds of the aircraft in the squadron would have taken place just before The Thought Reader, probably in May 1918. *Harcourt is still around in this story. Given the constraints in The Funk which would have placed his arrival in around October 1917, by the time of this story, he would have been at 266 for almost 8 months already, a true veteran. This is not ruled out by the text and is not impossible even though there are many intervening stories where he doesn't appear. After all there are many intervening stories where Algy or Watkins doesn't appear. *Given this timeline, the appearance of the Fokker Dr.I is plausible. The Fokker D.VII appeared in April and it would have taken some time to get them introduced into every squadron. Some would still be flying the Dr.I. Richthofen was still flying a Dr.I on April 21, 1918 when he was killed. *According to Biggles, it has been some 6 weeks since the Professor went down in The Bottle Party. This helps to set that story in April 1918.Ward Powers. "What Happened to Biggles in WW1?" ''Biggles Flies Again'' Vol. 3 No. 1, June 2009. Publication History *''The Modern Boy'', Issue 290, 26th Aug 1933 (as The Wing-Riders!) *''Biggles of the Camel Squadron'', John Hamilton, 1934 and reprints *''Biggles Goes to War'', Boys' Friend Library, 1938 *''Biggles of the Camel Squadron'', Thames, 1954 and reprints *''Biggles of the Camel Squadron'', Dean and Son, 1960s and reprints *''Biggles of the Fighter Squadron'', Red Fox, 1992 and reprints *''Biggles of the Camel Squadron'', Norman Wright, 2011 References Category:Biggles short stories Category:Short stories Category:World War One era short stories